Tufting machine



3 Sheets-65h w. HOFMANN TUFTING MACHINE Sept; 14, 164s.

Filed Odt. 18. 1945 liaigl A46 ATTORNEY 'Pt- 1 w. HOFMANN TUFTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed 001:. 18, 1945 Patented Sept. 14, 1948 TUFTING MACHINE Willy Hofmann, West New York, N. J., assignor to W. Hofmann Textiles Inc., West New York, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application October 18, 1945, Serial No. 623,091

11 Claims. 1

My invention relates to tufting machines, so called, and more particularly to that type of tufting machines in which the cloth beingtufted is held more or less stretched out flat on a frame in front of (usually) a gang of needles and the frame is shifted step by step to bring successively to the needles those points on the fabric at which loops of the yarn are to be drawn. Usually the cloth is carried in the frame on two rolls, from one of which it passes to the other during the operations, usually the rolls are placed one above the other so that the cloth is extended vertically, and frequently two pairs of rolls are used in the same frame one above the other, each pair carrying a cloth to be tufted and each cooperating with a gang of needles and accessory apparatus so that two cloths are tufted at the same time and with the same relative placements of the yarn loops.

It will be understood of course that a tufting machine is not limited to the production of tufts properly speaking, i. e. clusters of yarn loops or yarn ends, but may be used to cover a large area or even a whole piece of fabric with loops or ends of yarn, more or less tightly packed together, or it may be used to place loops or yarn ends more or less in linesforming more or less complex designs, etc. Herein the words tufts, tufting, etc. are to be understood as including such variations.

In the operation of machines of the type indicated, each needle, at each stroke, passes yarn through the fabric thus forming a, loop at the opposite face of the fabric, and a hook or looper then enters the loop to hold the loop extended as the needle is withdrawn to its starting position. Usually the hook is withdrawn from each loop about as this occurs, in machines of the type indicated. The loop may be left uncut, or it may be cut to form two projecting yarn ends of about equal lengths. To cut the loops heretofore it has been the practice to use knives the edges of which face away from the fabric, and which cut their loops by being thrust into loops and thereby their cutting edges drawn across the ends of the loops to sever them. The tension on the yarn in the needle eye tends to prevent ad-. ditional yarn from being drawn into one side or leg of a loop during the cutting operation, and also a presser has been disposedadjacent each,

needle, and at the moment of cutting operated to press against yarn lying at the needle side of the fabric to keep such yarn from being drawninto a loop by the knife acting to elongate the loop during the cutting.

These prior practices have various faults, as

has been recognized. For example, the knives must be very sharp since they must slice through the yarn against only so much tension as can be .put on a loop to prevent it elongating; the result is that the knives must be removed from the machine frequently for resharpening. The knives do not always out the yarns cleanly. Frequently the projecting yarn ends vary noticeably in length. The knife holders and the looper hooks as heretofore placed, tend to flatten down many previously-formed yarn ends as the cloth is shifted to bring new localities of it to the needles. Noticeably long lengths of yarn are left projecting from the needle-side of the fabric when the fabric is shifted more than a small fraction of an inch,

and these, for appearance sake, must be pulled out by hand. And it has not been possible heretofore to change the lengths of loops or yarn ends readily, and accordingly not practical to change their lengths from time to time or to make adjacent loops or adjacent yarn ends of different selected lengths.

Speaking generally, my invention overcomes such recognized and persisting faults of the prior practices. It involves placing each looper hook at right angles to the general line of travel of the fabric being tufted, e. g. parallel to rolls carrying the fabric rather than at right angles to such rolls as heretofore. It involves also placing each.

cutter or knife and its mechanism back of the adjacent looper hook, i. e. at the opposite side of the hook from the fabric rather than at about the same distance from the fabric as the hook as heretofore, and arranging each-cutter or knife to cooperate with its looper hook in making cuts so that each loop is grasped, as it were, between its knife and hook at the moment of severance. It involves alsoplacing each looper hook and the adjacent stop (or adjacent portion of an elongated stop serving a number of needle stations),

against which the fabric is pressed while loops are being drawn, at opposite sides of the path of the respective cooperating needle; also forming jc flh stop with a rather narrow elongated fabricengaging face, and placing this face substantially parallel to the adjacent looper hook; also making the stops adjustable readily toward and from the normal plane of the extended fabric, i. e. toward and from the plane containing the axes of the rollers supporting the fabric. It involves also withdrawing yarn from the needles whenever the fabric is shifted a considerable distance.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred form of my invention as applied to a well known form of tufting machine of the type indicated: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of one end of the machine; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a needle, looper, and accessory mechanism of one tufting station of the machine; Fig. 3 is a section about on the line Ill-III of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of about on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2, a tufting loop being added however and the knife being shown somewhat-nearer its loop severing position; Fig. 5 is an elevation of so much of a mechanism suitable for driving the operating portions of the machine as is necessaryfor an understanding of it; Fig. 6 is a timing diagram showing the order in which the parts of the machine involving my invention operate by preference. 4'

Speaking generally, i the machine illustrated comprises a frame l carrying two pairs of cloth rolls Z; 3 ahd 4, 5', which carry fabrics 6 and 'l'respectively, each in a vertical plane and between a bank-ofneedles 8 and associated apparatus 3, tog'ether with mechanism to reciprocate the needles' towardand from the fabrics and actu- 'ate'thea'ssociated apparatus, and mechanism to raise andlower the frame and 'move it to the' rightindlefttd shift the fabrics 5 and i so that different parts of thefabrics'arebrought successively to the needles, say in accordance with a predetermined plan, and to turn the cloth rolls to transfer-fabric from one to theother as the work-progresses along each fabric. The frame may be shiftedautomatically in accordance withgs'ayra perforated pattern, or under manual" controlof a'lever" If! used to follow a patternon a board I for examplej both these means for directing-the movement'of the frames and hence of the-"fabrics 6 and! are well known. Neither the particular mechanism used to shift the frame I northemechanism used to turn the cloth rolls is material to the present invention. Also the numb'efof fabricscarried by the frame is not material. "There may be only one, or more than two. ciated apparatus Will be referred to for the most parttthefabricl and its associated apparatus beingsimilari- Hereafter only the fabric 6 andits asso- A bank 'o'f needles 8 may be substantially like tomary heretofore', and the notches t2 which assist the-looper hooks to enter the loops are placed on sides of the nee'dles'facing one of the rolls (orits substitute) rather than at 90- from such positions 'as heretofore. be reciprocated toward and from its related fabricsli", to thrust its needles I6 throughthe fabric "to form loops of yarnon the opposite Each needle bar 8 may face of the fabrics, by any suitable mechanism; for example, mechanism used heretofore for reciprocating needle bars can be used. At each needle it a presser i8 is provided to press the adjacent portions of the fabric against opposing stops described later, while the needles are piercing the fabric; as indicated in Fig. 5, these pressers E8 of a bank of needles may be mounted on a rock shaft l9 which by rocking action brings the pressers to the fabric and away from the fabric again at the appropriate moments.

In lieu of individual pressers IS, a single bar will serve as a presser for" a" number or all the needles it of a bank, this bar extending along the positions of the heads of the pressers l8 and being operated in the same manner as it. However it is not necessary that the pressers it (or bars substituted for them) extend across the paths 0f these-needlesin order to engage yarns flying-on the needle-face of the respective fabric t, as hasbeerr proposed heretofore. Further, the natures of the mechanisms for actuating the needles and pressers are immaterial to the invention;

Yarn can be supplied to the needles it by, for example, oonesM, one for'each needle. Preferably the yarn isdrawmforcefully from the source of supply; e. g. by yarn feed'rollers 25, say one for each bank'of needlesi around which each :yarn fed by it is wrapped in passing from the respective source or "sources M to its needle l6; these rollers' may be driven at 26, Fig. 5, for examplejat appropriate moments to feed yarn to their rieedles as described in some detail later.

iThenatur'efof the driving mechanism for such rolls-as 25 is immaterial however. 'In order to permit the' rieedles to draw a little more yarn tharithe'rolls 25 ma'y'feed; the yarns may be looped from these rollsaround one or more parallel bars'ZS, Fig; '5, spaced a little from the roll, as will'be understood'from prior practices; such bars permit the yarn to 'slip on the rolls a little easier than theycan' around the rolls alone.

This same mechanism, e. g. a feed roller, or wfeedrollers 25,'can be used also to reducethe lengths of yarn that usually are left projecting from 'the' needle side of the cloths at times as referred to again Speaking "generally; the particular construc- I tion's of the mechanisms so far mentioned, and

the mechanismsfor driving and otherwise actuatingthem; are" quite or substantially immaterial'to the "pre'sent'invention except as herein appears. Accordingly, the foregoing descrip- '--tion and the diagrammatic illustration will suffice 'for the present purposes. Should any furtherillustrationor description of such partsbe needed} or desired however, the U; S. patents No. 1,972,265,"Sept. 4, 1934 andNo. 2,062,027, Nov.

.24, 1936; maybe referred to.

As usualin tufting' machines of the type here concerned; the loops-formed by the needles on theopposite' s'ide of thefabric or fabrics are' caught by loop'ers'-so called, and may be cut to produce two"projectingends of yarn from each loop. In the presentinstance however the looping-andcutting mechanisms are quite distinctive.

In the present' instance, each looper comprises a member 30 presenting to the cloth a horizontal edg-e 3! as it were that extends'parallel to its associated' cloth rolls 2, 3 (or substitutes for them) ,andhas' a similarly extending hook por tion thatmay be pointed somewhat so as to slipreadily intoa loop of the yarn held on the looper-"sidebf' the fabric by its adjacent needles.-

In operation the needles I 6 ofthe bank are thrust through the fabric with the associated loopers in about the position illustrated in Fig. 2, and then the loopers are moved horizontally to the right in Fig. 2 to place their hook portions 32 within'the loops. The notches l2 in the needles, arranged to be in the paths of the looper hooks at the moment help to direct each hook between its needle and one leg of @the. loop drawn by the needle. The needles then retreat, and the hooks hold the loops to prevent them being drawn back by the needles. If the loops or any of them are to be out, they are then cut at the hooks 32. For this purpose a knife 34 is mounted entirely back of, say, each looper hook 32, together with its actuating mechanism, i. e. at the opposite side of the looper hook from the fabric as will be observed from Fig. 2. Each knife 34 may be mounted in a swinging arm 35 hinged at 36, and preferably is mounted to cooperate with its hook 32 in severing the loop and to this end preferably is mounted to ride on one surface of the looper hook as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The arm 35 may be hinged to the body 35 of the looper, and the hinge or pivot 35 of the knife arm 35 may be drawn downward by a spring 3-! and thereby the knife held yieldingly against the upper face'of its hook 32. The yarn engaging edge of the knife 34 may be inclined as at 38 (Fig. 3) so as to provide a sharp cutting edge as it were, and similarly the face 39 of the looper hook 32 may be inclined as illustrated to provide a somewhat sharp edge to cooperate with [the sharp edge of the knife 34, especially at that portion of the hook 32 Whereat each loop rests at the moment of cutting. Each loop may be out i as it is formed, i. e. without the accumulation of uncut loops on the hook. A cut loop is illustrated in Fig. 3. In order that the two legs of a cut loop may be more nearly of the same length, the under side of the hook 112 may be recessed as at 4!, Figs. 4 and 2, at the region of the hook occupied by the loops while being out.

After a loop is cut (or at about the same time if loops are not out) each looper 3i is returned to the left (i. e. to its position in Fig. 2), in preparation of another (righthand) movement to enter another loop drawn by its respective needle [5.

As the needle enters the fabric 6 at any time, the fabric should be rather exactly positioned and confined locally; otherwise the contemplated design may be undesirably irregular, etc. To this end the pressers 58 (or the equivalent of multiple pressers, namely, say a horizontal bar positioned at the line of the heads of i3) press the fabric adjacent the needle paths from the position in 2 and 3 to against a corresponding seriesof stops 45 at the opposite side of the fabric (or against, say, a horizontal bar substituted for the row of stops 45) Preferably each stop 45 is placed at the opposite side of the path of its needle from its adjacent looper hook 32, and may be held in a (temporarily) fixed relation to its adjacent looper hook 52. The stops 45 determine the lengths of loop that are formed by the needles and hooks 32; i. e. if a stop 55 projects a considerable distance from a looper hook 32 toward the plane containing the axes of the rolls 2, 3, the fabric 5 will be held a corresponding distance from the hook 32 when the retreating needle again comes to rest (and when the loop is out if out) and hence the projecting loop (or projecting yarn ends if the loop is cut) will be long;

reversely, if a stop 45 projects only a little disfabric will be correspondingly closer to the hook when the loop is completed (and perhaps cut), and the projecting loop (or yarn ends) left will be correspondingly short. In order to vary the lengths of the loops and/or cut yarn ends, the stops 45 may be made adjustable toward and fromthe plane of the axes of the rolls 2, 3 (or their substitutes) and to this end they may be mounted on a common horizontal bar 46, and this in turn carried by slides 41 so that all the stops 45 of a bank can, be adjusted in position as a unit. An adjacent slidable bar 52 having a wedge or wedges 53 operating against one or more of the slides 41, will serve to adjust the positions of the stops 45, manually or automatically, at desired intervals. If desired however,-each stop 45 can be made independently adjustable. On occasion it is desirable to remove one or more of the stops 45 entirely from action; for example, when one or more corresponding needles are taken off the needle bar. To this end, I usually mount each stop 45 on a body member -48 through which a screw bolt 50 is passed to fasten the body to the supporting bar 46. By loosening the bolt 50 the member 48 can be swung to placethe stop 45 substantially at'the fabric-edge of the bar 45 of course; and thus out of action. If desired a pin 5! and a corresponding notch in one end of the stop 45-48 can be used to hold the stop from turning under the thrust of its adjacent presser I8, while a slot 49 will permit the stop being slipped away from the pin in being put out of action.

As will be appreciated, the devices so far de scribed can be operated by various forms of mechanism and the particular form of mechanism employed is not material to my invention, at least for the most part. By way of example, however, Fig. 5 indicatesa mechanism that I have found suitable. In this mechanism a cam shaft 22 is driven continuously bysome suitable sourceof power. A cam 2| on this shaft reciprocates the vertical link 20 and from this cranks and links 54 and shafts 55 operate the needle bars as before described. In order to stop the operation of the needle bars when necessary, one of its follower rolls 56 can be mounted on a pivoted link 51 that normally is held in such position that the cam 2|, acting through the roller 56, can raise the link 20; but by means of a hand lever 58 a supporting hinged arm 59 can be withdrawn from 51, andwhen this happens the coaction of the follower 56 with the cam 25 will simply swing the link 5'! without moving link 20. Another cam 62 on the cam shaft may act through appropriate linkage 63, Fig. 1, to reciprocate a horizontal bar 64 extending along each bank of loopers 3,0 and on which the looper bodies are mounted, and also reciprocate parallel bars 65 having collars 66 at each needle station to actuate the cranks 35 carrying the knives 34. In the particular mechanism illustrated rock shafts 61 have links running in pin slots 65 of the looper bars '54 and cranks E9 linked to the knife bars 65; by appropriate shaping of the slot 58 and spacing of the collars 66 that will be understood, the loopers can be shifted parallel with the fabric and the knives moved to and retreated from their severing positions at appropriate moments. Each presser bar l9 may be rocked by a cam 12, for example, on the cam shaft 22, as will be recognized from Fig. 5. .To operate each yarn feed roll 25, preferably I provide a rack member 13 that is reciprocated lengthwise by a connection to the respective needle bar, and a cooperating gear wheel 28 On the shaft of the feed roll, together with a cam 14 on the cam shaft 22 which acts through a follower T5 to hold the rack bar it raised from the gear 25 at times when no feeding of the yarn is required. The manual stop handle is arranged. to stop the feed of the yarns by the yarn drums 25, by a connection from this lever 58 to a rock shaft 7e arranged to rock a lever 19 into the path of the arm carrying the follower iii of the rack '13, to thereby hold the follower out of the path of the yarn feed cam T4 and thereby, forthe time being, hold the rack bar 13 out of engagement with the gear 26. If desired a rack bar '63 and gear 26 may be provided fer only one of, say, two yarn drums 25, the other yarn drum being driven from the shaft of the first as through abelt Eli.

Ordinarily after a needle has drawn a loop at one point on the fabric and retreated from the fabric, the fabric is shifted only sufficiently to place the next point of needle penetration and loop a short distance away. Such an operation need not shorten materially a previously made loop ory ain end. on occasion, however, as before indicated, the fabric must be shifted to bring a rather remote point to the needle for its next loop; In such an operation the needle pulls back out of the fabricone leg of the last loop formed (assuming that loop to have beencut), since that leg is a part of the yarn standing in the needle eye. When the needle makes its next stroke at the remote point, accordingly, an end of yarn, of noticeable length, is left proieeting from the needle-face of the fabric. This is not fatal but is somewhat unsightly and heretofore it has been customary to have these prcjecting ends pulled out by hand. I substantially prevent these projecting ends on the needle-face of the fabric by causing the yarn feed roll 25 to reverse slightly whenever the fabric is shifted a considerable distance. The fabric makes these long shifts while otherwise the machine is at rest and while the rack bar 73, Which normally advances the feed roll 25, is held out of engagement with its gear 26, so that the feed-roll can be rotated in reverse at such times. I thereby withdraw suffic'ient yarn from the needle to allow only a short stubend of yarn to project from the needle-face of the fabric on the next draft of a loop by the needle. This reversing of thefeed roll may be done wholly automatically (e. g. as an incident to automatic control of themachine as before suggested), or it may be done manually at the proper times. To reverse the roll 25 at this time I prefer to add a second rack bar 99 to also engage with the gear 26 of the feed roll, provide it witha spring 9! to bring this bar into engagement with the gear, and, say, a pin 9-2 on the linkage to hold the rack 90 from the gear 26 while the rack 3'! engages that gear. The second rack bar may then be connected to a rock shaft 93 provided with some means for rocking it, for example, a manual handle 94. A stop 95 may be mounted on the rack bar 9!) and a cooperating stop 9% hinged at 91 to some fixed point on the machine, to limit the roll-reversing movement of the second rack bar 9!! to the desired amount of reverse movement.

The preferred order of operations is illustrated in Fig. 6.

It will be understood thatthis Fig. 6 illustrates the operation at one needle (any one). on the machine. The length of the figure indicates the passage of time and .the various lines marked knife, hook, etc. served to indicate theoperation of those devices in forming and cutting: the loops. The broken line I00 serves to indicatethe position of the fabric with respect to the needle, presser and stop during and subsequent to one shift of the fabric and its continuation llll serves to indicate another part of the fabricbrought to the same needle.

At the time represented by I02, the fabric has been shifted to bring anew point Hill on it to opposite the needle, the presser l8 adjacent'cthat needle is pressing that portion of the fabric against the opposin stop A5, and the needle [6 has advanced and is just about to pass intothe fabric. The feed roll 25 feeding the :yarnfot this needle is turning to supply yarn to the needle, the respective looper hook 32 is atrest slightly away from the path of the needle; and the knife 48 is in its retracted position of Fig. 2. As the needle continues to advance it penetrates the fabric, and ultimately, at the time I03, when the needle is at or almost at its furtherest point of projection, its looper hook 32 passes intothe loop near the needle end, as indicated by the change in position of the line representing the hook movement.

As the needle reaches its most advanced-position through the fabric, 1. e. at time I 04, the feed roll becomes stationary, and when the hook 532 is wellwithin the loop the needle starts to retreat as indicated by the change of direction of its line in Fig. 6, and when about this time the hook 352 has fully entered the new loop, the movement of the hook (to the right in Fig. 2) stops. The needle retraction continues, the hook within the loop preventing the needle drawing the loop out of the cloth until just about as the needle comes to rest in its initial, Fig. 2, position, i. e. at time M5, the knife quickly advances to cut the loop against the loop book 32 as indicated by the change in direction of the knife line in Fig. 6. The knife can be restored immediately to its initial, Fig. 2, position as indicated also by the knife line.

About as soon as the cut is made, at time I06, the presser it may be retracted and the hook may be withdrawn to its initial Fig. 2 position, as indicated by the line directions. As soon as the presser is retracted and thus allows the tension on the fabric to pull the fabric from the adjacent stop at, the frame of the machine is shifted to bring another point Hll on it to opposite the respective needle IE; the shift takes place in the interval from about I91 to about I88. The needle remains out of the fabric during this shift, but can be started toward the fabric as indicated by the change in direction of the needle line, between time llll and H18, and about simultaneously the yarn feeding roll 25 starts turning again to feed yarn toward the needle. As soon as the fabric shift has been completed at I08, the presser l8 may be advanced again to press the new point lfll on the fabric to the stop as, and this movement is completed at I09 shortly before the needle again enters the fabric. At Hi9 accordingly, the cycle described is completed, and a new and similar cycle begins.

The reversing of the feed roll 25 for any needle or bank of needles when the fabric is shifted a considerable distance, as described above, may take place at about the time I ill.

As compared with prior devices, the new constructions described above reduce materially the .amount of flattening of loops and yarn ends which arises from dragging loops and yarn ends over the apparatus as can be seen readily, Preferably however I reduce the flattening effect still further by so operating the machine that, so far as practical, and inat least the major number of instances, each shiftof the fabric between the formation of two successive loops is made in directions parallel to cloth rolls 2, 3 etc. (ortheir substituteshor in directions moving each latestformed' loop directly away from both the looper hooks 32 and the stops 456. e. in the upward direction in arrangements such as Fig. 1), or intermediate such directions.

Such a method of operation tends to keep formed loops and yarn ends away from active apparatus such as the loopers and the stops. It will be understood of course that my invention is not limited to the details of construction and the operation described above and illustrated in the drawings except as appears hereafter in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a tufting machine, the combination with a needle reciprocable through the fabric to form loops of yarn at the opposite face of the fabric, a presser, a stop to cooperate with the presser to confine the fabric, a looper having a hook to enter successive yarn loops drawn by the needle, and a frame remote from said looper to hold the fabric to be tufted positioned before the needle, and with at least a portion of it extended, and to shift the fabric parallel to its extent, of a knife to cut the loops and means to operate said knife, said knife and knife-operating means being located entirely at the opposite side of said hook from the fabric, the knife being mounted to move its cutting edge substantially into contact with the looper to sever the loops between them, and said knife-operating means actuating the knife to make cutting strokes while the loops to be out are, respectively, on the looper.

2. The combination of claim 1 characterized by the fact that the cutting edge of the knife substantially faces the fabric, and the knife is mounted to move its cutting edge over an edge of the hook which engages the ends of the loops to sever the loops between them,

3. The combination of claim 1 characterized by the fact that the cutting edge of the knife substantially faces the fabric, the knife is mounted to move its cutting edge over an edge of the hook which engages the ends of the loops to sever the loops between them, and adjacent said edge of the hook, a loop-receiving recess is provided in the face of the hook opposite the knife.

4. In a tufting machine, the combination with a frame having a pair of fabric-carrying rolls from one of which to the other the fabric is carried in an extended condition, a needle to reciprooate through the extended portion of the fabric to form loops of yarn at the opposite face of the fabric, means to shift the frame parallel to the extent of the fabric and to turn the rolls to bring selected points on the fabric to the needle successively, and a presser and a cooperating stop to confine the fabric While the needle is piercing the fabric and releasing the fabric while said means is operating, of a looper having a hook extending substantially parallel to said rolls to enter successive loops drawn by the needle, a knife to cut loops held by said hook, and means to operate said knife, said knife and knife-operating means being located more remote from the fabric than said hook.

5. The subject matter of claim 4, characterized by the fact that means are provided to recipro- 7 cats the looper to'baus said hook topass into loops drawn by the needle.

6..The subject matter of claim 4 characterized by the factthat said hook and. stop are 10- cated at opposite sides of the path of the needle.

7. In a tufting machine, the combination with a framefhavinga pair of fabric-carrying. rolls from one of which to the other the fabric is carried in ank-xtenc led conditionja needle to reciproconfine the fabric while the needle is piercing the fabric and releasing the fabric while said means is operating, of a looper having a hook extending substantially parallel to said rolls to enter successive loops drawn by the needle, said hook and stop being located at opposite sides of the path of the needle, and the fabric-engaging portion of said stop having greater length than width and its length being substantially parallel to said rolls,

a knife to cut loops held by said hook, and means to operate said knife, said knife and kmfe-operating means being located more remote from the fabric than said hook.

8. In a tufting machine, the combination with a frame having a pair of fabric-carrying rolls from one of which to the other the fabric is carried in an extended condition, a needle to reciprocate through the extended portion of the fabric to form loops of yarn at the opposite face of the fabric, means to shift the frame parallel to the extent of the fabric and to turn the rolls to bring selected points on the fabric to the needle successively, and a presser and a cooperating stop to confine the fabric while the needle is piercing the fabric and releasing the fabric while said means is operating, said stop being adjustable to place its fabric-engaging portion, closer to or farther from the plane containing the axes of the rolls, to change the lengths of the loops drawn by the needle, of a looper having a hook extending substantially parallel to said rolls to enter successive loops drawn by the needle, a knife to cut loops held by said hook, and means to operate said knife, said knife and knife-operating means being ihcalgted more remote from the fabric than said 9. In a tufting machine, the combination with a frame having a pair of fabric-carrying rolls from one of which to the other the fabric is carried in an extended condition, a needle to reciprocate through the extended portion of the fabric to form loops of yarn at the opposite face of the fabric, means to shift the frame parallel to the extent of the fabric and to turn the rolls to bring selected points on the fabric to the needle successively, and a presser and a cooperating stop to confine the fabric while the needle is piercing the fabric and releasing the fabric while said means is operating, of a looper having a loop-engaging hook extending substantially parallel to said rolls, means to reciprocate said looper substantially parallel to said rolls to place the hook. within loops and restore it to inactive position, a knife movably mounted on said looper, back of said hook, and means to move said knife on the looper to bring the cutting edge of the knife into loop-severing cooperation with said hook while the hook is within a loop.

10. In a tufting machine, the combination with Mums 11 m 12 1 ,vauneedle. neciprocabla through thefabric tomform .,-.ro11er-in.,.the)direction reverse to. 1ts..=yarnH- feedloops of yarn at thgnpposite. face .ofwthlfabric, 1ngr0ta,tion.

.a preset, a stop to cooperatemwith,thefipresser to HOEMANN. cgnfirmihiabric, alooper-hayingauhook to entersucpessive ya'rnv loopsmdrawnby the-needle, and 5 .IREFERENCESLCITED Qmmeansifmhold theiabridtobetufted .with at least 0110 in referent: of} o d ath a porti n bfnit'extefidedland..t.0..shi1t.thefabric i f'g ihf 8 re e parallel ,to its extent, ofla device vovenwhichi the yarn passes on its,,way 130. the needle,,an.d,--means l [UNITED STATES PATENTS to; actuate said device 'an'dmtherewith the yarn to 10. Number Name 33;: Date 5 .1 withdraw, from the. needlewsome .ofhvth'e. yarnpre- A 1,.vi0 1 1y1f.ed1.t0 it. Kalbach .vNov. 1%"1931 11: The rcomhination of cl im w am -12 2" ;-I-Iofxi1*aneta1. Not 24 51936 'ized by the fact ,thatvgsaid device. overgnwhich the 2,100,1 7 if 1 1150 1; bv, 235;1937 I" ar passes. is a roller toufe ed ya n'tQthe needle, 15 2,329,458 Chinnicl et a1 -'Sept. 144.1943 ".fand said means t,0 actuate ."saidv device rotateslsaid 2 335 437 Gobble 1; 30: 1943 ugLandphere ;;1Jurfe 12,221888 

